The community discussion highlighted an easy fix that should make it possible for people who don’t like portraits to play without them, and CoG implemented that ASAP. Good on them.
It never should have been a problem to being with. They themselves claim that CoG are "entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.”; CoG is “fixing” a problem they created in the first place.
Damned cover art–they’ve been betraying their principles since day one!
I’m not a fan of character portraits, but that’s my taste… not the one obviously correct stance which all should have recognized and shared from the beginning. A game can have as much art as many a printed novel without suddenly ceasing to be text-based and counting as graphical.
Fan culture has been infected by the relentless moralism of our overall culture. It’s not enough any more to just not like something-- no, the creator disrespected their fans, betrayed their principles, did something that any half-decent human would recognize as obviously wrong. It makes me tired.
Games have the option to turn off the images now; we no longer need this thread.